Meet Dario in Italy!

Special Tours. Wonderful Wine. Great Company.

The Only Way To Taste Italy

“I’m thrilled to inform that I am now meeting guests and readers for tours and educational gatherings full time! After six years I have decided to abandon my hermit life and to dedicate my time conducting tours and sharing my area with whomever wants to experience and learn about Tuscany in depth.

I can arrange a tour with a driver or you can simply choose to meet me at one of the following venues. Click on the options at right to learn more and make reservations and I hope to see you soon in Tuscany!”

FEELING LAZY?

Chianti Rooster Day Tour

We offer a full relaxing day with pick up and return to your hotel. Our goal is to make you enjoy the wonders of Chianti offering an off the beaten path itinerary that unwinds through the beauties and history of the area. The tour is studied to be a fun fascinating full immersion for anyone who wants to penetrate not only the history but even deeply into the soul of this ancient and civilized region.

Chianti Rooster Tours was the very first tour established by Dario Castagno in the late 1980’s. Together with his four wheel drive minibus he started accompanying small groups of tourists through his homeland, the Chianti area until, years later, he became a worldwide acclaimed bestselling author.

In collaboration with Luca Garrapa’s Hills&Roads, commencing from this season and maintaining the original spirit, together they have joined their ventures and decided to resurrect the one day Rooster Tour.

Program
A fully licensed English speaking guide will pick you up directly at your hotel, residence or apartment. Depending by location pick up is at 9.00 or 9.30am. Transfer to Chianti. At the first stop, Dario will greet you at a remote cypress forest and show you some Etruscan tombs dated around 400BC that he actually helped to uncover. He will explain all about this uncanny civilization and why they are considered to be the base of the Tuscan culture. Next, we go to Fattoria Tregole a mother and daughter run business where Dario will guide you through the grounds of a property mentioned in a document dated as far back as 1003. While touring the grounds, chapel and cellars he will introduce you with his engaging passion to all the products produced on its premises, at the same time he shall entertain you with plenty of fitting historical anecdotes and accounts regarding the home of the Chianti Classico. Lunch is served and prepared on the premises.

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Having said goodbye to Dario, driving on extremely panoramic roads, we head to Castello Brolio, the imposing castle that has been home of the Barons Ricasoli for the past thousand year or so and that was the stronghold of the endless bitter wars between the Florentine Guelph and the Siennese Ghibelline armies. Visits includes a walk through the garden, family church and the highlight, the breathtaking vista from the ramparts.

The following destination is a walk around Vertine. Idly perched on one of the countless hills, the tiny village inhabited by a few dozen families, is probably one of the best preserved and remote hamlets in the area; a jewel cast in the hills of Chianti. The perfectly restored sturdy towers and its strategical point are the proof that in medieval it times it was an impenetrable fortress.

Upon request, before our 5.00pm return we can also include a brief stop at Radda in Chianti, the main town of what once was “La Lega del Chianti”

Fattoria Tregole

Villa Tregole has the pleasure to announce that we have signed up a new friend to join our team since we have attained the cooperation of Dario Castagno, the highly praised world renown best selling Tuscan author. Dario, a former tour guide lives at walking distance from our winery where he wrote all of his books. Dario quoted that Chianti is an earthy region where life seems to spring out of the ground. The scent of living things is in the air we breathe and the food we eat. Everywhere there is a sense of completeness-a completeness of people and their environment and by no doubt Dario represents to some extent the quintessence of this land. His books are partly based on his life in the tiny hamlet perched in the heart of the Chianti hills and are crammed with historical anecdotes, facts and figures referred to Tuscany.

We invite you to join us for a tour conducted by Dario who will guide you through the cellars while introducing you with fervour to all the products produced at our winery and at the same time will entertain you with plenty more of fitting historical information and accounts regarding the home of the Chianti Classico. Spending some time with us can be a fascinating experience that can leave incredible effects. An occurance for anyone who wants to penetrate not only into history but even into the soul of this ancient and civilized region. Chianti originally was settled by the mysterious Etruscans, then by the Romans, where the Goths, Lombards and Franks have come and gone. A region studded by the Florentines and Sienese with great forts to withstand each others’ onslaughts and that has inspired artists of the talent of Leonardo and Michelangelo among the many, given birth to navigators such as Vespucci and Verrazzano and the statesmen Machiavelli.

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Tours take place every day at any time (preferably at 11.00am) and commence at reception where Dario will have the pleasure greeting you with a welcoming goccetto and then charm you through an educational series of wine tastings in our cellars. On request the tour can be continued with a light lunch or dinner in our tavern prepared and served by our staff.

This tour is available 7 days a week, 12 months a year. Cost is 25€ per person and lasts approx 90 minutes. 60€ with lunch included

Fattoria Ispoli

This year I have included a new possibility where I will be thrilled to host my guests and readers. The venue is Fattoria Ispoli a boutique winery located in the Florentine Chianti area. Ispoli has been managed by my elder brother Cristiano for the past twenty years and is specialized in producing prestigious organic wines including Chianti Classico Riserva, Chianti Classico and even Merlot.

The winery has been in production for many centuries and is mentioned in numerous ancient documents, recently Fattoria Ispoli has been awarded top revues and has been highly credited in specialized magazines and wine guides.

I shall escort you through it’s cellars and property and introduce you to the wines and entertain you en route with info and historical anecdotes regarding Tuscany and Chianti.

Tours take place daily. If you prefer not to drive, we can arrange pick up. For info and costs contact me at DarioCastagno@gmail.com.

Wines can be purchased and shipped on the premises or through my shop.

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Feeling Lazy?

Let Dario Come to Your Hotel or Villa – Afterall, You’re On Vacation!

I will be happy to join you at your hotel in Siena or private villa in the Tuscan countryside for an introduction to the history of the area. I shall obviously bring my books with me and be happy to discuss them and any other topics with you.

DARIO CASTAGNO

Author Dario Castagno is Italian through and through, but just happened to be born in the Wimbledon district of London to Italian parents (who were importing fine Italian wine and spirits to England). He moved back to the Chianti hills – a region first settled by the Etruscans – at age 9, and embarked on a deeply personal exploration of its landscape, legends and lore.

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